We will take a look at the 'Confession' letter- and with the consideration of one murderer in mind, examine its contents in relation to the autopsy findings by pathologist Rene Modglin, in respect to the brutal murder of Cheri Jo Bates in Riverside on October 30th 1966. This may go someway to determining whether or not the 'Confession' letter was authored by the killer.

On the right is a representation of the wound pattern inflicted upon Cheri Jo Bates. One can see that all the lacerations noted in the post-mortem findings were effectively delivered by the killer from the breasts upwards, with the ferocity of the attack centered around the neck and face (the hands and arms raised to protect these vital areas). Some may say, that with six injuries to the face and seven lacerations to the neck, the killer's intention was to wipe away the identity of the pretty young student in a distinctly personal attack, but I will leave that to the observer to consider.The lacerations and their directions have a story to tell- one that doesn't indicate an overhand knife attack from the front in a downwards motion. Or an underhand grip from the front in a straight, or upwards motion- an argument strengthened somewhat by the evident lack of injuries to the area of the abdomen.The 'Confession' letter stated "I said it was about time for her to die. I grabbed her round the neck with my hand over her mouth and my other hand with a small knife at her throat." The killer was effectively gaining control from the beginning of the attack rather than performing an uncontrolled full frontal assault, stabbing wildly. If we base this analysis on one assailant, as the letter implies, it is reasonable to deduce the assailant had grabbed Cheri Jo Bates around the neck and mouth with his left arm in a form of choke-hold.Cheri Jo Bates' autopsy findings showed numerous petechiae in the forehead (broken capillary blood vessels). Petechiae are commonly present in the eyes or eyelids as a result of manual compression of the neck area, but not always, and can also be present on the face, especially the forehead. The manual force compressing the neck increases the vascular pressure causing the blood vessels to rupture. The assailant can now use his right hand to stab and slash the young girl, in effect, reaching over her right shoulder and directing the knife back towards himself (possibly an underhand grip), causing the three injuries to her breast region and several to her face. Clearly, at this point, Cheri Jo Bates is using her hands and arms in a defensive motion to protect her upper torso and face (eleven injuries noted to her hands and fingers, including lacerations and abrasions), as noted in the diagram. The small knife is being deflected as it's delivered, resulting in lacerations running laterally across her body. There must have been a violent struggle at this point with Cheri Jo Bates trying desperately to secure her release, and the attacker resisting her escape, resulting in the alleyway floor being disturbed by their footwear, described in the 'Inside Detective' magazine by law enforcement: "The driveway adjacent to 3680 Terracina Street was so churned up it looked like a tractor had been over the ground. The girl, who was very athletic, put up a terrific struggle."

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The 'Confession' letter continued: "Her breast felt very warm and firm under my hands, but only one thing was on my mind. Making her pay for all the brush off's that she had given me during the years prior. She died hard. She squirmed and shook as I choked her, and her lips twitched." The squirming being her attempt to break free from his clutches. The sheer terror and exertion, coupled with the compression applied to her neck, resulted in the petechial hemorrhaging to her forehead. It may have been at this point (or quite possibly later) that the assailant, in an attempt to gain control, shifted his grip from around her neck and started to slash (or stab) her throat.One must also note the correlation between the wounds inflicted to her breasts, his reference in the letter to "her breast felt very warm and firm" and his promise to "cut off her female parts and deposit them for the whole city to see." In addition, if her breast felt very warm, was this indicative of an assailant who was not wearing gloves and who had earlier deposited fingerprints on her lime green Volkswagen Beetle. The 'Confession' letter then stated: "She let out a scream once and I kicked her in the head to shut her up." If this were true, then clearly, he cannot kick her in the head standing upright behind her, while she is upright too. Bearing in mind the position she was found in the turnout the following day- face down- she may likely have been thrust forward at this point, onto the alleyway floor, causing abrasions to her hands (noted at autopsy). Free from the choke-hold, she is able to let out a scream, which resulted in the assailant kicking her in the face. Whether this action ever took place is debatable- but here are three excerpts from the autopsy to consider: [1]"A 2 cm oblique ragged edge gaping laceration of the upper lip on the left side that angles laterally from above and extends completely through the thickness of the lip. The teeth behind are not loose or broken." [2] "A dark blue-gray, slightly swollen discoloration of mainly the mucocutaneous portions of the upper and lower lips on the right side involving a 2 cm greatest diameter." [3] "An area of dark blue-gray discoloration of the skin of the left cheek angling from above in front slightly downward and posteriorly. The overall length is 3 cm.None of the injuries thus far, despite being extensive, are necessarily terminal at this juncture.With Cheri Jo Bates having been forced, face-down into the alleyway floor, the 'Confession' letter kicks in again: "I plunged the knife into her and it broke." The assailant likely atop and astride the young woman, plunges the knife into her left upper back (shown in blue in the diagram above). The back region being very firm, coupled with an extensive attack using a small pocket knife, may well have caused the hinge mechanism to fail, resulting in the blade closing and quite possibly injuring the hand or fingers of the assailant. The History Channel documentary 'The Hunt for the Zodiac Killer,' alluded to the fact the killer's blood may have dripped onto the attire of Cheri Jo Bates. This is a very real possibility and likely resulted in the end of the attack on the young woman, but for the final coup de grace: "I finished the job by cutting her throat."

The cause of death listed in the autopsy was laceration of the right carotid artery. There was in fact extensive marking to the neck, all of which may have played a factor. The full description in the report was as follows: "The anterior neck skin extensively and irregularly lacerated with marked gaping. A deep cut is in the thyroid cartilage on both sides and the right common carotid is completely transected as well as the right superficial jugular vein."​If this cut (shown on the right) originated on the left side of the thyroid cartilage near the midline and extended in one motion to the right side of the neck, this would be indicative of a right-handed assailant kneeling above Cheri Jo Bates (who is lying face down) and drawing the blade from left to right. This ultimately, is where her valiant fight for life abruptly ended.However, she would before this happened, reach back with her right hand and grab the hair of her attacker. The autopsy stated "Considerable partially dried blood over the hand and especially about the fingers and under the unpainted moderately long but not carefully manicured fingernails." When Cheri Jo Bates grabbed her assailant's hair, the extensive blood on her dominant hand trapped the hair at the base of her right thumb- crucial evidence that would later be used to extract mitochondrial DNA from her murderer.There is one more important thing to consider, other than finding foreign DNA on the clothes of Cheri Jo Bates, and that is blood tying. In the 'Inside Detective' magazine it stated "At the murder scene, drops of blood leading from the body to Terracina Street indicated to the detectives, that the murderer had walked back to the street following the slaying." This may have been the blood of the victim dripping from the knife or assailant. But, there surely must have been consideration from investigators that this may have been blood from the murderer's cut right hand, which is common during attacks with bladed instruments. This blood was either collected and stored, or completely disregarded as originating from the victim, which could have been a big mistake.Cheri Jo Bates' blood type detailed at autopsy is rare in the USA population. It was AB RhD positive, which accounts for only 3.4% of the American population. Even with the limited forensic capabilities in 1966, this testing was a simple affair, and could have determined whether the blood trail extending towards Terracina Drive was that of the killer's, and subsequently stored appropriately for future testing. Different samples could also have been retrieved from the clothing of Cheri Jo Bates and stored separately. What are the chances the killer also possessed this very rare blood group? Whether or not this trail of blood was tested and stored in controlled conditions, and ruled out, we may never know. But if it wasn't, then this story could possibly have had a very different ending from the one it's likely to have.

Thanks Richard, this couldn't have been an easy one to write. The wound pattern graphic is very helpful.

I have a longwinded question related to the mystery of whether CJB was a stranger or known to her murderer. The scenario of her being a targeted victim has been explored in some depth and I think the theory holds some weight but if she was left alive then there is still room for debate.

Unlike Zodiac in his first three confirmed attacks, the Riverside attacker to me seemed determined to commit murder, rather than harm and leave to suffer and potentially testify before death. The time of the Riverside attack/death estimate based on the autopsy has suggested that her death occurred between ten and midnight if I recall correctly - do you think CJB expired before her killer(s) left the scene or is it more likely to you that death occurred significantly later in the evening? If she was still alive after suffering such damage would the Riverside killer have felt confident that CJB would be unable to speak?

I feel a bit morbid asking this, as either way it is unlikely to get us closer to the truth, but hopefully it will aid in the debate about whether the motivations of the Riverside killer align with those of the Zodiac. Thanks for your time Richard.

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Richard

1/15/2018 10:47:37 am

Hi Drew, the complete transection of her jugular and carotids would have meant death was extremely rapid. She wouldn't have been alive when he left the scene. That much is certain. You don't survive wounds like she suffered to the neck region. When the attack began is open for debate, but if we take the screams heard by the two earwitnesses as CJB, then it's between 10.15-10.45 pm. Likely around 10.30 pm.

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Drew

1/15/2018 11:01:34 am

Thanks Richard. I may never be certain but this hands on approach to murder, rather than remote harm and torture, does not seem similar to the Zodiac crimes that we know of. Because we can't really know the true extent of the Zodiac's activities before or after the confirmed attacks I will likely remain floundering on the issue, but like you I have definitely been drifting away from seeing the Riverside killer and Zodiac as one in the same.

Richard

1/15/2018 11:07:36 am

They probably have one thing in common-they were right-handed.

Richard

1/15/2018 11:06:05 am

I think Rene Modglin is probably the man to trust over me. He stated "As a result of the rapid blood loss the subject would go into shock rapidly and undoubtedly would have become unconscious and die in several minutes."
Once she lost consciousness death, was inevitable, unfortunately.

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Richard

1/15/2018 11:19:35 am

There may be different scenarios to the one I suggested above. What I was attempting to achieve, was to effectively take the Confession letter chronologically and see, if not only could it have occurred this way, but whether the injuries could be connected with the letter. Any other suggestions are welcome.

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Drew

1/15/2018 11:48:51 am

Your analysis above aligns the letter writer's narrative and the murder closer than I would expect an innocent individual could likely have achieved from reading news articles. To hoax the letter is quite possible of course (as many studies have taken pains to prove) but I believe it would have required multiple sources and required a great deal of close interpretation to accomplish and therefore I believe it was probably legitimate. Timing and likelihood of the library scenario aside there is a lot of places in the letter where he could have contradicted himself and didn't. Still doesn't make him Zodiac though.

Right-handed indeed. Something Tom Voigt mentioned that seemed keen to me and possibly something else that the Riverside and Zodiac killers may have had in common is that neither could be too tall or large (or Ross Sullivan, which was the context of his comment). CJB was fit but quite small physically. If small Cheri managed to put up the fight which the autopsy suggests then the assailant likely wasn't too big and strong. Her killer was not necessarily a young student but he was probably smaller in stature than many of the suggested suspects. I thought his stance was a tad hyperbolic but an interesting idea.

I see that it is officially documented that skin and hair was collected from under CJB's fingernails.So,another possible source,for forensics [?].

I would have thought that anything,on the forensics side,ended up at the CA DOJ,a long time before the ''TV team'' got to view CJB's pants [?].

I believe also,the FBI took custody of all ''scribe materials'' eventually,since they came under the title of ''Archive Extortion''.

In theory,the letters could still be used to press charges - against Zodiac,or some other person.

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Richard

1/15/2018 02:15:01 pm

I always wondered Rubislaw, whether the bullet casings were ever tested for fingerprints or DNA. I suppose it's so obvious, it must have been done.

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Richard

1/15/2018 02:35:52 pm

If the hair found under the stamp on the Stine letter is an accidental deposit by the Zodiac Killer, then surely this could be microscopically compared to the hair recovered from CJB thumb. If they are determined incompatible, then there may be a reasonable argument to be had excluding the Zodiac as the Riverside killer.

Just checking on the believed newspaper reportage,Richard,with the CJB murder.

It seems that the Riverside Tiger Times article on November 4th,four days following her murder,gave the most ''in depth'' report [...at that time..],on the slaying.

CJB ''did'' put up a struggle.No evidence that the perpetrator waited for her in the library.CJB appeared not to have received a kick to the head.There is no official evidence that the knife used in the attack was broken.

Richard, You never fail in convincing me just how brutal and cold-blooded this bastard really was! When it came to killing I think he would have been capable of just about anything. There is also a consistently sadistic and cruel theme in his murders, which is so often neglected when many people attempt to profile this killer's psychology.

I agree Ray.It's the propensity for ''cruelty'',that I struggle to overcome,when examining the ''work'' of Zodiac.

Even if we set aside his ''letting of blood'',there are some quite astonishing accusations levelled against him.

Not least,his ''presumed'' treatment of Joseph Bates,with the inferred possibility that April 1967,was when Zodiac started to acquire real ''nastiness''.

Granted,some accusations remain technically unfounded....but,having done a fair amount of research into the Joan Webster disappearance and murder,in the last year....the possibility emerges.....and is not so remote as many might imagine.....that Lenny Paradiso may well have spent the remaining 28 years of his life behind bars.....for a murder that he did not commit [Marie Iannuzi].....with ''Zodiac'' fully aware of this,all along.

Strangely,one thinks of the suffering of the living,for which Zodiac may have instigated.....more than the poor souls of the departed.

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joku

1/21/2018 02:07:17 pm

The amount of wounds on the facial area compared to the rest of the body is pretty interesting. Psychologically, it would suggest that the perpetrator indeed knew the victim somehow and had a personal emotionally charged motive. In any other killing connected to Zodiac, as far as the public knows, there is no violence directed on the victim's face.

Even if some are inclined to think that that might be stating ''the obvious'',I always believe it is worth stating these things ''time and again''....since we often veer from what is actually,of fundamental importance.

David Farraday and Paul Stine took head shots,with presumed intention of ''instant death''.These two aside,there is no obvious intention on Zodiac's part to ''deface'' intended victims.

As you have pointed out,there appears to be some evidence of ''defacing'' Cheri Jo Bates.She is not a ''confirmed'' case,and I would suggest that the figurative jury is,at least,undecided over Zodiac's responsibility [?].

As far as I am aware on a ''Law Enforcement Agency'' currently looking into possible Zodiac murders,after 1970,there are five....all women.Three are strangulations,and two are blunt force trauma to the top of the head.

So,again,no further cases of actual attempts to ''deface'' the victim.

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captain ron

3/15/2018 06:40:00 pm

From a forensic DNA perspective, the actions here would be to perform mitochondrial DNA testing on the 4 hairs clutched in CJB hand and 1) compare to suspects and 2) compare to hair found on Stine letter.
Does anyone know if the 4 hairs from CJB have been tested already?
Mitochondrial DNA has been successfully tested from mummies and wooly mammoth, etc - and of course from single hairs. This type of DNA is present in many more copies per cell than nuclear DNA (>100X more), so it is a very sensitive approach with limiting or highly degraded samples.

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Richard

3/16/2018 01:05:04 am

Here's a link to all the DNA testing done.
http://zodiacrevisited.com/cheri-jo-bates-evidence-analysis/

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captain ron

3/16/2018 11:52:19 am

Great, thank you Richard for the link. I see the following: of the 4 hairs in CJB hand, one was subjected to mtDNA testing and a profile/sequence was successfully obtained. This mtDNA profile did not match the RPD suspect's mtDNA profile. Two hairs from CJB scalp were attempted for mtDNA, but no profile was obtained. The 4 hairs from CJB hand/thumb were microscopically compared to CJB scalp hair and found to not match - which is good and just means that the 4 hairs in her hand are likely from her killer.
Logical next steps: 1) perform mtDNA testing on at least one of the remaining three hairs from CJB hand. We would want to see that the mtDNA profile from the additional hair matches the original hair, so now we have stronger evidence of an actual mtDNA profile from the killer. This is essentially a quality control step assigning correct attribution. 2) obtain a mtDNA profile from CJB, using any reference samples from autopsy, or worst-case from the voluminous blood stains from her clothing. This is another quality control step which demonstrates conclusively that the 4 hairs are not contributed by CJB, essentially confirming the microscopic exam but using DNA. 3) now if steps 1 and 2 are solid - we can obtain reference samples from suspects, generate mtDNA profiles and compare to the mtDNA profiles of the hairs.
For sure this approach would be able to include/exclude ALA, since I know for sure that SFPD (at least at one point) had a brain autopsy specimen from ALA. It would be extremely easy to generate a mtDNA profile from that specimen. At least this would dis-entangle one long standing mystery in this case, which is whether ALA was involved or not in the CJB murder. If ALA (or any other suspect) is excluded from CJB case, then of course he may or may not still have been involved in the canonical Z murders. And of course if any suspect mtDNA profile is matched to the CJB hand hairs, then that case is solved, and paves the way towards potentially linking CJB with the canonical Z murders, e.g. possibly via the Stine letter hair, etc.

Richard

3/16/2018 02:57:49 pm

Don't believe they could get anything from the Stine stamp, but it would be interesting if we could get a match between the cigarette butt DNA and the DNA of the hair at the base of CJB's right thumb. Then we could possibly place the killer in the alleyway at 9.30 pm, indicating the murderer was extremely persistent in his pursuit of the young girl and extremely likely someone she knew. He most certainly had targeted her. I'm sure the Riverside PD are holding something back, and most certainly wasted years pursuit the wrong man.

Richard

3/16/2018 02:59:25 pm

Correction: pursuing the wrong man.

captain ron

3/16/2018 04:57:38 pm

The mtDNA testing was done in ~1999...so looks like they eliminated their prime suspect a long time ago. The report seems to indicate that they extracted a minute amount of DNA from the cigarette, but that they did not proceed with mtDNA testing on it (??). In any case, the beauty of DNA is that they just need suspects now to screen, no need to infer whether they knew CJB or not...They should get reference samples from all viable persons on their suspect list and just obtain their mtDNA profile and compare to that hair mtDNA profile. If they have not done this, then I honestly can't think of a good reason why not...

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